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I am only 3 hours into the game, but i can`t stop thinking about the amazing potential this game has - and how it totally falls on its knees in a major aspect of any JRPG/SRPG: The writing in general.I really appreciate the military academy setting. Games like Persona 3/4 have proven that it can work out exeptianally well... But with dialog as cheesy and lighthearted as in this game (including the most annoying main character i`ve come across in years), it`s really hard to take the game seriously. Hell even Persona 4 with its lighthearted tone can still manage to give the characters serious moments and therefore depth (i just hope VC II will improve during the rest of the game).

Another problem is, that the world of VC just has not enough interesting to offer in general (i found the plot in the first VC really boring). The point is: SEGA has an amazing franchise here with really unique gameplay...It just needs a breath of fresh air. I can`t stop thinking about a VC game like this one (yes, with an academy setting^^) in futuristic world with mechas (that can only be piloted by the young academy cadets - think of it as something like the newtypes in Gundam) and of cause the same gameplay mechanics... So much potential. But then again, as we all know, SEGA has sadly abandoned the series...:(

The 'story' in VC2 is a phone-it-in collection of the laziest of tropes slapped into a school setting for generic appeal to the Japanese market.

What really killed the game for me though is the sheer amount of grinding. You're reliant on RNG for certificates and diplomas for character upgrades, and there are four variants of each material times four levels for each of them. It brings the game down to a slog.

Well, i actually don`t mind grinding... In that regard VC2 feels more like an (S)RPG than it`s predecessor.And i am actually one of those who prefer SRPGs beeing on handhelds rather than on home consoles.What i like about the game so far is the ammount of optional events that pop up every time you beat a mission or free mission, even if those are often quite silly... But i like it as it breaks the monotony of playing those non main missions before the main story progresses.BUT: I guess that won`t last all the time until the final mission, am i right?

I don't mind grinding too much in the case where you can quickly repeat the same fight a few times in order to gain some levels or certain skill ups. Or maybe you need to fight the same enemy ten times in row because you need ten of the black balls it drops in order to make some new equipment.

But this game just isn't like that.

You might be after ten black balls, but the boss keeps dropping red balls and green balls, and on the off chance it does drop a black ball it gets awarded to a character that already has twenty of them rather than to a character that actually needs it.

The class system is interesting in this game, but the way certificates are handed out is just broken beyond any sensible level of frustration.

Even if you skip out on producing stronger gear, you're still reliant on the totally random certificates and diplomas to promote your soldiers. Their stats and effectiveness can go up dramatically when upgraded. E.g. snipers will go from single shot to 3 round burst.

About the non story missions that you need to do before you can play a story mission: What are they exactly supposed to be? Are they just mock battles and the only real battles storywise are the story missions? Or are they real missions the cadets participate in? I`m just curious.^^

Yeah, the story in this game isn't fantastic. It's not so bad when looking at it by itself. If you like high school hijinks, it certainly delivers on that. But you can't help but compare it to the more serious tone of the first game. Sure, it had your anime stereotypes, but the overall alternate history WW2 setting made things interesting.

The real downfall of this game is that it's a PSP game. Sega made an absolutely gorgeous graphics engine that they only really used on one game. And then you have the technical limitations of this game where maps are split up into sectors, which makes the game quite a bit easier.

VC3 fixed the story problem. It's much more serious, no more high school shenanigans. But it still has the technical limitations of being a PSP game.